More Playstation Phone Details Leaked

Hip hip, hurray! Mobile Crunch has a tipster inside Sony Ericsson who has a lot of information about the heavily rumored device. We’ve put the most important information in a nutshell:

It is real.

The display is brilliant, on-par with the iPhone 4 Retina display.

Sony Ericsson hopes to present in somewhere near February, meaning that this won’t be a Christmas present.

It’s not sure whether the phone is capable of running PSP-games, might be, might be not. It’s true, there’s also a Playstation 1 emulator for Android, meaning it might be possible to emulate the PSP as well. On the other side, the PSP’s hardware is a lot more complicated. Again: Might be, might be not.

The Z-system, which might be rumored as heavily as the actual phone itself, is real and it will be both the gaming-platform and the distribution center. It’s not completely clear how the games will be distributed, but it’s highly probable that Google will set up a separate section for the phone(s) to download game titles.

The tipster also says that the gaming experience is really good, better than any other device she’s ever laid her hands on, given the fact she has a lot of experience with mobile gaming, it says much. Time will tell more, but it’s looking damn juicy.

The screen is “mind-blowing”, on-par (at least by the tipster’s eye) with the iPhone 4′s retina display. The person giving them the rundown on the display indicated that some of Sony’s Bravia technology has trickled in here, with Sony Ericsson considering leveraging the Bravia brand when highlighting the display.

Sony Ericsson currently has the off-contract price floating somewhere around $500, with that purchase including 5 free games.

It’s unclear whether the “Playstation Phone” is capable of running actual (downloaded) PSP games — I’d wager that it’s not, given what I’ve heard and the amount of emulation work that would be required. We’re likely looking at a new, independent line-up of games built specifically for this platform, which might explain why Sony Ericsson is reportedly planning on pushing this handset with the XPERIA brand rather than the more recognizable Playstation brand. Sony Ericsson is heavily leveraging Sony’s licensing partnerships, though, with names like Tekken being thrown around.

Games will purportedly be priced like mobile games, not like PSP games. In other words, expect sub-$10, not sub-$40.

The tipster confirmed that the “Z-System” name so oft thrown around the rumor mill around is still in play, and that Sony-Ericsson reps used it to describe both the gaming platform and the distribution center. It’s still unclear (even to Sony-Ericsson, it sounds like) whether the game distribution will be done in a standalone application or through the Android Market, but our tipster was told that Google was working closely with Sony Ericsson to try and bring it all into a section of the Android market exclusive to these devices. It’d be highly beneficial for Sony Ericsson to have Google on their side, here, given that the latter has considerably more experience with payment processing (and relationships for things like carrier billing).[/spoiler]

Now in our 11th year, AndroidGuys loves to provide readers with the latest news and rumors as well as reviews, opinion pieces, and tools to get more from your Android. You have an awesome phone in your pocket; let us help you get more from it.